Draco can still feel the heat radiate from the room. He could still feel Potter's lungs, how they frantically heaved in oxygen, in and out. He could see the horror on Crabbe's face as he fell into the growing, angry flame. Draco played with his bedsheets, felling the comfort, but not the safety it provided. He set as many anti-combustion spells as he could the moment Voldemort was defeated. He'd got rid of anything that simply reminded him of Crabbe or anything that can catch fire. He took a deep breath, just to steady his mind so he doesn't get too upset. Thinking about Crabbe and The Room of Requirement was too much for him.
"Draco," His mother says softly, as he head his room door crack open a bit. "We need to get going soon." She reminds him, and she closes the door.
'Make father proud' He tells himself as he grabs his bags, his owl, Redemptio (Draco had shortened it to 'Red') and he walks out of his home, his Mother trailing behind him as they get in the car to drive to Kings Cross, to cross platform 9¾ . As He and his Mother take his bags out, (which had been enchanted with a 'feather-weight' charm) and they cross the platform, the Hogwarts' express a brighter red than he'd remember. It was loud and crowded, but Draco managed. There were looks of disgust as he did hug his Mother a farewell, and he sits in a compartment near the back, staring out the window, noticing how the sky looked sort of like his eyes; a dark grey. He heard small hoots, and he noticed Red moving in his cage, a bit uncomfortable in the small space.
"Do you want to fly?" He asked, opening Red's cage. He nodded, his orange eyes glowing. Draco opened the window, and the bird flew off, but staying where Draco can see him. He sighs as he looks at Red, seeing how free and happy he looks, like he doesn't have a total care in the world.
'Oh how I envy him'
As the train ride was coming near a total stop, Red came back, and Draco helped him back into the cage.
"Good bird." He cooed, giving him a treat. Red closed his eyes as he ate the treat, not being bothered by the cage space anymore. One by one, all the Hogwarts' students, first year to eighth came out of the train, giving Draco glares. He was pushed toward Hannah Abbott, who in return, pushed some younger kids away from him.
"Yawl stays away from his sort, okay? They aren't very good people." She sends Draco a glare.
How come he had the growing feeling that the only friend he's ever gonna have is his Red? Draco didn't react. He just followed the flow of students to the opening to the castle. It all just felt so surreal, it looked like it wasn't just a year and six months ago that there was a war, it didn't look like a year and six months ago Vincent Crabbe didn't die in one of the ancient rooms via fiendfyre. Draco looked at the castle with awe. He enters the Great Hall, taking a seat near the door, all the other Slytherin seated as far from him as possible. Nobody, Slytherin or not, would want to associate themselves with Draco Malfoy. He sighs as he eats a small bowl of oat meal, not eating anything else sweeter than that. He barely touches that either, as he only got a couple of bites in before McGonagall makes the opening speech, praising Harry Potter for saving the world, moment of silence for the brave 'Heroes' who died in the war, and house unity and whatnot. He did stick around long enough to see the first-years to be sorted, and as there are no perfects, most of the older students just helped the younger Slytherin. Draco dully followed the sea of green and silver.
Green and silver. How he used to find so much pride in those colors. How he used to boast about how amazing Slytherin is. But now, his just wants to disassociate himself those colors; green and silver. A Slytherin says the password to a brick wall in the dungeons, (its Rebirth) and the bricks separate large enough to have everyone enter safely. The new head of the House, Justice Blair who wants to be only called as Professor Blair or Ma'am simply tells the students that it's first come, first serve with bed. "There are enough beds for all of you. Just go and Put your stuff on a bed. That's where you'll sleep." She said her face and voice emotionless. Draco likes her attitude.
Justice Blair does not look like the kind of person you'd want to mess with. She may be short, but the look on her face shows that she does not play. She has dark caramel skin, and light grey hair that is cut in a bob, her hair curled at the ends. Her eyes are icy, sharp, and a very dark brown, almost black. Professor Blair stands up straight, her hands behind her back, and she makes everyone feel small. She also doesn't wear robes like everyone else; she wears a Black sweater with the Slytherin crest above her heart, and black trousers that she tucks into her shiny, black rain boots. She walks over to Draco, who can feel her cold aura from across the room.
"Malfoy, if anyone bothers you or prevents you from getting your N.E.W.T.s in any way, you come to me alright." She says her voice slightly warmer than what He's heard so far. Draco nods in understanding, and he sends his things to a bed that was at the very back, near the one of the many fireplaces in the living quarters. Professor Blair leaves the boy's dorm, probably going over to help the female counterparts next.
Draco lays down on his bed, and he gets some paper and a pen, (He got it as a joke birthday gift, but realized how convenient they are, so he prefers them over quills) He writes to his mother about the head of the house and how interesting she seems, her proposition, and how everything's okay at the moment. He folds up the letter and reminds himself to go to the owlery to get Red.
'I had my ups and downs, but I always find the inner strength to cool myself off. I was served lemons, but I made Lemonade.'
Draco read over the little plaque with the quote in Professor Blair's office. He just came back from breakfast, and he had stopped by her office to get his time table.
"Here you go Mister Malfoy, I hope you school year ends well." She says, giving him his time table.
"Thanks Professor Blair." He says, taking his timetable and his book bag. She gives him a curt nod, and he leaves her office. He looks at his first N.E.W.T class, which is Charms with Flitwick. He starts to speed walk into class, hoping he doesn't get caught with a hex or an insult. He did not pay attention to the small band of Gryffindor, one blocking Draco's way. He immediately knows its Ronald Weasley.
"Move Weasel, unlike you, I need to get to class. To learn." He says, adding emphasis to the word 'Learn'. Weasley sneered at Draco, and he points his wand to him and he grins.
"I should've known a ferret like you were going to say something like that. Levicorpus!" Ron says, flicking his wand, and Draco is suspended up into the air, his mother's wand hitting the floor with a clank.
"Ron, stop it!" Granger says, grabbing at his arm, tugging it. Ron snarls in response.
"Let us join the fun." Another Gryffindor says, along with his friend, and they both draw their wands.
"Rictusempra." One of the Gryffindor duo says, making a tickling sensation come over Draco, making him laugh, his face turning a darker red. He was gasping for breath, he can't breathe. He felt so dizzy and humiliated.
"Oooh! Let me try! Ron put him down!" The other says, the Weasel putting Draco down, but he was still a laughing mess. He points his wand at Draco swishing it in a weird way before saying, "Tarantallegra!" now Draco was awkwardly ballroom dancing among the Gryffindor, who intern was crowding around him and laughing at him, saying rude and harsh things to him.
"What's going on here?" Professor Blair's voice boomed without the need of a Sonorus. The Gryffindor crowd started to back away from her, seeing a laughing and Dancing Draco before her. He begged her with his eyes to help her, as he felt so embarrassed that he was going to cry. She flicked her wand, and Draco instantly stopped laughing, and he started to take big deep breaths of air, getting light-headed in the process.
"Draco, you go back to your room. I'll talk to you later. Whoever is responsible, step forward, or you'll regret it." She snarls at the crowd. Soon, Ron and the two boys step forward, and Professor Blair quickly escorts them to her office, leaving the crowd to properly disband, going to the classes that they needed to be. Draco quickly gets his mother's wand and His book bag, and he shamefully walks back to his dorm.
Draco stars up at the ropes of dark green fabric on his four-poster bed, quickly casting a tempus charm, seeing that the time is 7:50. He sighs, and he turns to his side, facing his right seeing all the beds and imagining what would life be like if Crabbe was alive and his father and himself weren't death eaters?
"Mister Malfoy? Are you awake?" Professor Blair's voice startled him. He quickly sat up and looked at her, and responded: "Yes Ma'am. Do you need me for anything?"
"No, not particularly," She says, sitting at the edge of her bed. Her eyes and stature softened, and she takes a quick breath before continuing. "If you want to tell me your side of the incident that had happened earlier this morning, go ahead. If you need time, or simply just don't want me to know, that's okay as well. I cannot pressure you to do anything as I won't get the desired results from it." She says her eyes boring into Draco's soul. He looks at his hands for a moment before looking back at Professor Blair.
"I really don't think I'd want to talk about it. I was humiliated, and that's all there is to it." He responds, looking at his shoes.
"Hmm. Okay then." Professor Blair remarked. She sat up straighter. "Well, the boys will be punished accordingly, and if you don't want to go to the Great Hall, I completely understand. But here's one thing you need to learn and you need to learn quick: You don't always have to have the last word on things. Always, always, always, remember: ignorance is bliss." She says giving him a small smile, the corners of her eyes crinkled at bit. She gets up from the edge of his bed, and she leaves the dorm room, leaving Draco alone with his thoughts.
Draco simply walked into the Great Hall as if the Gryffindor incident had never happened. He does, in fact, take heed from Professor Blair's advice, and he just simply won't respond when someone has something to say, because really, why does he need to care? He walks to the end of the Slytherin table with his head held high, as he fills his plate with only his favorite foods, and he began to eat properly, and had kept the food down for more than 5 minutes. During this time, he looks over his N.E. timetable, and he starts to memorize everything a bit better.
N.E.W.T.s: 8TH YEAR
Student Name: Draco Lucius Malfoy
Period 1: Charms
Period 2: Herbology
Period 3: Defense against the dark arts
Period 5: Astrology
Period 6: Advanced Potions
Period 7: History of Magic
Period 8: Divination
Breakfast is served at 10:30-11:00
Lunch is served at 1:15-1:45
Dinner is served at 8:00-9:45
Draco looked mildly surprised at his timetable; he picked out 10 classes, but only got 8 of them. It's truly nothing to complain about though, as the last two were the classes his father had picked out specifically for him. Speaking of his family, He realized he didn't send his mother that letter from yesterday, or his father Intel about Professor Blair. He found it very odd that He, of all people wanted to know about her. Maybe she's the first of her caliber to be the head house for Slytherin. He finishes his plate, and it fades away, probably to be cleaned by the house elves. He grabs his mother's wand, and he walks down to the library, just to study on wandlore, and such. Words cannot express how much he misses his wand. He grabs some books remotely related to wands, and he takes a window seat, using the next hour to figure out how to use his mother's wand as best as he could.
Draco didn't check out the books as he felt like it wasn't truly useful, he just simply needs to scrape at the bottom of the barrel, and get a new wand. Almost all of the Gryffindor house ignored him, or went through great lengths to avoid him. Draco does not exactly know what Professor Blair did to Weasley and the 2 other boys, but now they know not to ever do that again. He walks into the Slytherin common room, and all conversations being held there are instantly hushed, the students glaring or staring at Draco, like he had something on his face. It was Pansy Parkinson who finally stood up for Draco after moments of awkward silence.
"Come off of it! He's just as much of a Slytherin as we are! Let's show him some love, yeah?" She says to everyone, her straight cut bob barely moving with her head as she looks at everyone in the room. They all exchange looks and they go back to their normal conversations, this time, acknowledging that Draco exists, and invited him for some. He rejected each offer kindly, and he decides to sit with Parkinson, Nott, Zabini, and Goyle. They all talked about various subjects, and they didn't mention Gryffindor or asked Draco what happened earlier this morning.
He couldn't be more thankful for that.